Not for Lack of Trying
by Mind of the Childishly Naive
Summary: Can the ocean keep from rushing to the shore? It's just impossible. / a collection of drabbles and one-shots centered around an Elvis-loving Hawaiian girl and her alien dog.
1. What's the use?

-x-

Not for Lack of Trying  
_What's the use?_

-x-

"He can think faster than a super computer, but he _can't_ do first grade _math_?"

The skepticism in the young Hawaiian girl's voice permeated the kitchen air. Her older sister folded her arms.

"No," Nani said, "He _can't_." Stitch was scribbling numbers onto a page in Lilo's notebook, regarding the open math book every few seconds to know what equation was next. Nani snapped her fingers at him and pointed towards the door. "In the living room, Stitch. Now."

Finished anyway, he slid the notebook and pencil back over to Lilo and flipped the math book closed. He hopped down from his chair with a compliant "Okie," and headed for the doorway. Nani stretched across the table and tried to pull the notebook away from Lilo, who smacked both her hands down onto it and held it pressed against the table.

Stitch paused to watch the fun.

"C'mon Nani, I'm _done_ now!" Lilo protested, "Do you _want_ me to spend all afternoon working on something that Stitch can finish in three minutes?"

"Yes I do! You need to do your _own_ homework, Lilo," Nani said, prying her sister's smaller fingers off the notebook and tearing the page out once she had it.

Lilo and Stitch both groaned.

Nani gave the notebook back, and tore the page in half, then in quarters, and so on, dropping the confetti into the trash can. Lilo let her forehead hit the table in defeat, and Stitch made to climb back into the chair beside her.

"Nu-uh," Nani said, stepping in his way, "You go to the living room and let Lilo do her homework."

"What's the point in having a super-smart alien for a friend if he can't help you with your math," Lilo complained, opening the wretched book again. Stitch rattled off something in his alien language as Nani shooed him towards the living room and Lilo nodded. "Well, yes, but that goes without saying."

"I wouldn't mind him _helping_ you, Lilo, but he can't do all the work, that's cheating."

"You used to cheat at monopoly all the time and I never got on to you," Lilo pointed out, remembering past family fun nights.

"Everyone cheats at monopoly, that's half the fun of playing with family," Nani said, frowning, "Besides, that was a game -- homework is different. You have to learn how to do it for youself, Stitch _can't_ do it for you."

"But what if I have questions?"

Nani sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, look, Stitch can _help_ you, but he can _only_ answer your questions."

"Great. I have 26 questions."

"Lilo, I'm not kidding," Nani said firmly, frowning at Stitch when he chuckled at the remark. He stopped immediately and pressed his hands to his mouth, ears down. She looked back at Lilo, whose grin vanished just a quickly. "You do the work yourself, he can't tell you the answers. If I catch him doing one more problem for you or giving you answers I'm ripping up the paper again and seperating you two until your finished. All right?"

"All right," Lilo and Stitch chorused.

Exasperated, Nani left the kitchen, and Stitch climbed back into the chair beside Lilo. She copied her name and the date onto the top of the new piece of paper, then wrote down the first problem again. Stitch turned his ears in the direction Nani had gone and was quiet for a long moment, leaning over into Lilo's chair to see the math book.

Tapping the first problem, he finally muttered, "Is 42."

-x-

(A/n) I don't think that I have HONESTLY EVER been as DISAPPOINTED in a fandom as I am in the Lilo and Stitch one. Almost 1,000 LaS fics, and only ONE of them is worth any crap... I'm the ONLY author actually TRYING? Seriously, honestly TRYING to write or think about what this movie was ACTUALLY ABOUT....? ....Damn it, I like reading fanfiction, too... *goes to sulk and write more for herself*

--Motcn


	2. Dissatisfied

-x-

Not for Lack of Trying  
_Not worth it_

-x-

"I think I need to change something."

Hearing the depression in Lilo's voice, Stitch looked up, ears turning in her direction. She was laying along-side her record player, reaching up to move the needle back without even lifting her head from the floor. "Heartbreak Hotel" echoed once again through the round loft and Lilo stared across the room with half-lidded eyes. Stitch came over and stretched out between her and the record player, letting out a slow, heavy sigh at the same instant Lilo did.

They laid in silence for the whole 2 minutes and 12 seconds of the song, and when it was over Lilo dully asked, "Any suggestions?" Stitch sat up on his elbows, thinking for a long minute. He looked at Lilo and suggested something in alien, but she thumped her forehead on the floor and shook her head.

"That's easy for _you_ to say," she said, raising her head and holding out her hands, "You actually _have_ antennae."

She pushed her hands back through her hair and seperated two thin, long locks on top of her head, wiggling them infront of her face. She sighed and dropped her hands, looking around the room for some sort of inspiration. Stitch laid back down, running a hand over the top of his head.

"Could paint room instead," he offered, looking around, also.

"I guess," Lilo said, dissatisfied. She rested her chin in her hands. "I was thinking more changing something about myself."

Processing this, Stitch tapped his nails on the floor. "Devil in Disguise" and "Suspicious Minds" had played their course before Stitch looked at Lilo again, his ears up. She had laid her head back against the floor, listening and thinking to the soothing mele of The King. Stitch reached over to the record player and flicked the volume knob all the way to the left, cutting through "Burnin' Love"s chorus and silencing the air.

Lilo looked up at the disturbance in her force, and Stitch laced his fingers together infront of him.

"Change music," he said.

Sitting up and leaning over Stitch, Lilo grabbed the handle of the record player and slowly pulled it around him and to her side until it was out of his reach. She frowned at him the whole while, then turned the volume back up for the last bit of "Burnin' Love" and settled down again. Because she was still frowning at him, Stitch smiled that sweet smile he'd picked up from Lilo to get Nani, Jumba, and Pleakley to bend to his will, and turned his head to one side in the adorable way that only _he_ could.

Lilo finally looked away, closing her eyes and resting her head on her crossed arms.

"Maybe change isn't the best thing for me."

-x-

(A/n) I am _totally_ digging these drabbles. xD Been listening to Elvis almost non-stop for the past four days! Woot. Mahalo to the guys who faved, alerted and reviewed! I'll do my best to keep these coming, I swear! And I don't apologize if my last Author's Note offended anyone; I'm still offended myself and I think I will be for a long, long time.

=P Srsly.

--Motcn


	3. A bad year

-x-

Not for Lack of Trying  
_A bad year..._

-x-

"Pleakley," Lilo said with a half grimace at having to ask, "Could you give us some information?"

The one-eyed alien looked up from his dated magazine, smiling with the kind of enthusiasm that curbed Lilo's and Stitch's almost immediately. Stitch "blech"ed and looked away, but Lilo stood firm as Pleakley set the magazine in his lap and asked, beaming, "What kind of information?"

"Nani won't let us paint our room," Lilo said, "And since we can't do _that_, I'm wanting to sort of change my image. Maybe."

Pleakley very nearly lunged again for the magazine in his lap, glad that his Earth research wasn't in vain. "What a coincidence!" He held the magazine up as he flipped through the worn-thin pages, and Lilo caught a glimpse of the cover. "I've just been reading 'Tips to Changing Your Lifestyle' in this magazine and it's absolutely _fascinating._ The article says that changing the smaller things can really make a _big_ difference when you're --"

"Um. Pleakley," Lilo said, raising a hand and waving to get his attention.

He paused and looked at her. Lilo dropped her hand.

"We can't really take any advice you're going to give us if it comes out of that magazine," she said, sounding rather glum, now.

Pleakley frowned, concerned by the sudden depression.

"What's wrong?"

"It was published in 1977," Lilo said, in the blank, sullen way. She looked at Stitch and he looked equally saddened. "That was a bad year for us."

Pleakley's confused deepened and he turned the magazine over to look at the date on the cover. No wonder some of the styles had seemed out of date. He suddenly realized the _date_, though, and looked up at Lilo and Stitch almost indignantly.

"1977 was almost thirty years ago!" he told her pointing to it with a long finger, "You're only seven!" He waved the magazine at Stitch. "And you haven't even been here a year yet!"

Lilo and Stitch blinked at him dully, then Lilo turned to Stitch.

"He doesn't understand."

"Ihe," Stitch said, shaking his head.

They retreated to the loft and sulked in bed the rest of the morning, reminded of their loss.

-x-

(A/n) Elvis Presley died in August, 1977. A bad year for us all, I think. *is twenty next Feb; cries* And I'm not sure which year exactly LaS takes place in, but judging by her Mom being the same age as her in the Hula contest in 1973, I'm guestimating. Around 20 when Nani was born, maybe. Plus nineteen years. Blah blah. Blah.

--Motcn


	4. Hear that?

-x-

Not for Lack of Trying  
_Hear that?_

-x-

"I've never cut my hair before."

Lilo glanced over at Stitch as she said it, her brow knotted at Nani's suggestion as she came in the door with groceries. Stitch shrugged at the inquiring look, but he reached over and skimmed his claw quickly through it. Lilo raised an eyebrow at him, touching the back of her head, and Stitch dropped his hands, shrugging again, but looking a little more concerned than before. It sounded like a bad suggestion to him.

"Well," Nani said, heading into the kitchen, "I don't know what to tell you, then, Lilo. You're too young to get tattoos or piercings, so a haircut is really the only way you can go."

"That's it," Lilo said brightly, snapping her fingers at Stitch, "I could get a tattoo!"

Nani dropped the groceries. Lilo continued, unabashed by the tomato paste can that Stitch watched roll between them and into the sitting room, "I could get the Praying Mantis from Bug Monsters III on my arm or --"

"Lilo. You're _too young_ for a tattoo."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't get a tramp stamp."

"LILO, where did you hear that!" Nani demanded.

The small Hawaiian girl shrugged.

"Mertle said that's what tattoos are called when they're across your lower back." Stitch nodded fervently to show that he'd heard the term as well, and Lilo leaned a little to one side, frowning a little. "What's it mean when you get a 'tramp stamp', anyway?"

"That's not important," Nani said firmly, knealing beside Lilo with a very serious expression, "Just put tattoos out of your mind, okie? You're _six!_ No one on the island is going to give you a tattoo and besides that, it hurts. A lot! Like... Like getting stung by hundreds of killer mutant bees!"

Lilo and Stitch both gasped and looked at each other in fascination and horror. Feeling exhausted, and having effectively turned Lilo's mind away from her question, Nani started picking up boxes and canned goods that had sprawled across the floor. Lilo was silent for a short while, thinking over her next question carefully.

"Okay, so what about piercings?" she finally inquired, holding out her hands, "What am I not allowed to pierce?"

"Everything," Nani insisted.

"What about my ears?"

"Oh," Nani said, that thought suddenly coming to her, "Well, I guess you could get your ears pierced. If you really want to, I'll take you to the mall tomorow."

"I don't know," Lilo said, seriously considering it, "Let me think it over."

She turned to Stitch as they left the room to ask him what _he_ thought (and he liked the idea a lot more than Lilo cutting her hair), Nani standing with the groceries in her arms. She very nearly dropped them all again in exasperation when Lilo stopped by the couch to ask Pleakley what a 'tramp stamp' meant.

-x-

(A/n) I have too much of time on my hands. xD Lame banter is so fun! *does a dance* I wonder how long I can get away with this "change" spree...

--Motcn


	5. So bad

-x-

Not for Lack of Trying  
_So bad._

-x-

"I thought we were getting a professional to do this," Lilo said uncertainly from the kitchen chair as Nani fiddled with the piercing gun.

"I know," Nani said, reading the instruction paper with a frown of concentration, "I said I'd take you to the mall, but this was cheaper, Lilo. I promise, it won't even hurt."

"That's what she said about eating our vegetables," Lilo murmured knowlingly to Stitch.

Stitch moaned on cue, clutching his stomach, and collapsed onto the floor face-first. Nani didn't even glance up from the piercing gun and shook her head, "You two are hilarious." When she did turn away from the counter, she brandished the plastic gun triumphantly, setting in a silver earing in it as she approached her little sister.

"Okay, Lilo. You ready?"

"I don't know if I trust you with a weapon," she said, leaning slightly away from Nani and squinting skeptically at the piercing gun in her hand, "Can't Stitch do it?"

Nani raised an eyebrow at Lilo, then at Stitch. He lifted his head off the floor at the question, ears up, and turned his head to the side when Nani looked at him.

"Ah... No, Lilo. Just let me see your ear, it'll take three seconds."

"Okay, okay, just be careful. That _is_ my ear, y'know, I've only got two of them."

Nani chuckled, sitting in the chair next to Lilo and tucking her long hair behind her ear and out of the way. She had just lifted the piercing gun to Lilo's ear and was just about to punch it when the young girl said, "By any chance, you haven't managed to fill out a life insurance policy on me, have you?"

"Lilo," Nani sighed, dropping her hands into her lap and sitting back in her chair, "Honey, do you want some more time to think about it first?"

"No," Lilo said, sounding sort of indignant, "I'm just worried something bad is gonna happen."

"What could possible go wrong, Lilo?" Nani asked, holding up the gun for Lilo to see, "It's just like a stapler."

Lilo stared at her for a long minute, then shared looked with Stitch, who had picked himself up off the floor and was clinging to the edge of her chair. She finally looked back at her older sister.

"That's not the best way to win your arguement," Lilo told her, very seriously.

Stitch shook his head in vigorous agreement.

"Do you want me to do this?" Nani asked.

"...Yes."

"Then hold still and stop talking."

Nani reached over, grabbing Lilo's ear, and before the girl could object she punched the piercing gun. Lilo shouted, Stitch gasped, and Nani sat back with the slot in the gun empty, a small silver ball in Lilo's ear.

"You see?" she asked, gesturing, "That wasn't so bad."

Lilo frowned, gingerly cupping her hand over her ear. She didn't want to say that it _had_ hurt when it had, because the small stinging feeling was already ebbing away. So instead she said, "Not really," and watched as Stitch climbed the back of the kitchen chair to get around her and see the earing for himself.

"I told you so," Nani said, wrinkling her nose at her younger sister.

Lilo stuck her tongue out at her. Nani laughed at her and got up to get the other earing.

-x-

(A/n) My friends and I have pierced eachothers ears at home before. Yay for fics based on true stories! In their own unique way, at least. ;D They're tons more fun.

--Motcn


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